Liverpool Targets Adam Wharton as Iraola's Rebuild Begins

Liverpool have barely finished changing the name on the manager’s door and they are already drawing up plans for another major reshape of the squad – with Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton firmly on the radar.

Andoni Iraola’s appointment, confirmed after the abrupt sacking of Arne Slot, has jolted Anfield into a summer of urgency. Slot delivered a Premier League title in his first season, then watched the team slide backwards in his second. The drop-off has forced Liverpool’s hierarchy to accept what the performances have been shouting for months: this squad needs surgery, not tweaks.

Key pillars have gone. Andy Robertson, Mohamed Salah and Ibrahima Konaté – three players who defined Liverpool’s recent era in their own ways – have all departed, leaving holes in defence, out wide and in the dressing room. The spine remains, but the depth around it has thinned.

Out wide, the situation is stark. Salah’s exit has stripped Liverpool of their most reliable source of goals and chaos on the right. Rio Ngumoha, just 17, is still feeling his way into senior football. Behind him, the options are either unproven or unsuited to that role over a full season.

That is why the club are already deep in talks over a deal for RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande. At 19, he has been identified as the preferred long-term successor to Salah. Personal terms are reported to be close, but Leipzig are holding their ground on a valuation north of £100m. Liverpool know the price of elite wide talent in this market. They paid it last summer.

Wharton admiration grows as midfield falters

Attack and defence may dominate the headlines, particularly after Liverpool conceded a club-record number of goals in a Premier League season, but the midfield is under review as well.

Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister struggled to hit their previous heights during the 2025-26 campaign. Both have quality, both have time, but neither imposed themselves consistently enough to calm the debate around the centre of the pitch.

Dominik Szoboszlai has become one of the first names on the team sheet, his energy and creativity surviving a turbulent year. Around him, though, Liverpool are looking for another reliable central figure – and that is where Wharton enters the conversation.

Speaking on talkSPORT, GIVEMESPORT senior correspondent Ben Jacobs summed up the club’s stance in one line: “Keep an eye on central midfield. Adam Wharton is a player really appreciated by Liverpool.”

That appreciation is widely shared. Wharton, still only 20, has three years left on his deal at Selhurst Park, where Crystal Palace will host Europa League football next season. His composure, range of passing and tactical maturity have turned him into one of the Premier League’s most coveted young midfielders.

Oliver Glasner did not hold back recently, describing Wharton as “one of the best midfielders in the world.” The comment raised eyebrows, but it also underlined how central the youngster has become to Palace’s identity. Ironically, he was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s England squad, a decision that has only fuelled speculation over a possible move.

Palace will not want to lose him on the eve of a European campaign. Liverpool know that. Any move would demand a serious fee and a persuasive pitch.

Big fees, bigger expectations

Liverpool have already shown they are prepared to operate at the top end of the market. Last summer brought Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak through the door as £100m-plus signings, a statement that the club would not retreat from the financial arms race at the summit of the Premier League.

This summer could look similar. Diomande will cost more than £100m if Leipzig get their way. Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola is another name under discussion, fresh from lifting the Champions League and valued at well over £100m by his club. Bournemouth winger Rayan sits in the same financial bracket.

Layer a serious move for Wharton on top of that and Liverpool’s recruitment drive starts to resemble a second wave of the rebuild that followed Jürgen Klopp’s departure – only this time under a different coach, with a different idea of how the team should play.

Iraola thrives on intensity, aggression and vertical football. To make that work over a 60-game season in England and Europe, he needs legs in midfield, depth out wide and defenders who can live on the edge without breaking. The targets Liverpool are pursuing fit that template.

The question now is not whether Liverpool will spend. Their recent history answers that. The question is how many of these big-money pursuits they can convert – and whether Iraola’s new-look side can emerge quickly enough to keep pace in a league that punishes even a single misstep in the market.